Concerns and Fears - AP Government and Politics

Shays’ Rebellion took place in 1786 and 1787 in the years between American independence and the adoption of the Constitution. The rebellion was lead in part by Daniel Shays, and the rebels were dissatisfied with the state of government and tried to overthrow the government in Massachusetts. The rebellion was important for demonstrating to the Founding Fathers the limitations of the Articles of Confederation and was one of the primary motivations behind drawing up a stronger national constitution and abolishing the Articles of Confederation.

The Establishment Clause appears in the Constitution as part of the First Amendment. It states that the Federal government will make no laws regarding the establishment of an official state religion.

The Federalist Papers were written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, in 1787 and 1788. Their purpose was to try to persuade the general public to support the ratification of the Constitution. If you did not know this, it is helpful to remember that the key is in the name—Federalist. The Federalists supported Constitutional ratification, whereas the Anti-Federalists opposed it.

The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions argued that the states could deem a Federal law unconstitutional and then, having done so, declare the law null and void. They were immediately controversial with many politicians, including George Washington, stating that the principle was a recipe for disunion (something he would be proved at least partially right about). The nullification issue would continue throughout the first half of the nineteenth century, contributing directly to the outbreak of Civil War.

The French and Indian war was fought as part of the larger Seven Years War between the British and French Empires. It resulted in an overwhelming victory for the British Empire, but may have proved the final straw that ended up costing the British Empire its American colonies. Although it is true that the British quartered troops in colonial homes, this question asks how the French and Indian War primarily contributed to the deteriorating relationship. The main reason was that the British government felt that the American colonies should bear the majority of the financial burden for protecting colonial lands, and thus raised taxes for this purpose. This helped create the revolutionary cry of "no taxation without representation."

Federalist No. 10 is an article, written by James Madison as part of the collection of essays arguing in favor of ratifying the Constitution, collectively called The Federalist Papers. In Federalist No. 10, Madison warns against the rise of political factions, advising common citizens and politicians on how to guard against the rise of factions. As part of his support for the Constitution, Madison notes that a larger republic would be less likely to be dominated by factionalism than would a smaller republic: (so, the states would have more trouble guarding against factionalism alone than they would as a collective national government).

Federalist No. 51 is an essay written by James Madison as part of the larger collection of essays called The Federalist Papers. In this essay, Madison argues why a separation of powers is necessary in a Republican government to provide protection against the tyranny of any one part of the government.

Shays’ Rebellion is generally considered to be the primary turning point that finally demonstrated the inefficacy of the Articles of Confederation. Under the Article's the inability of the United States Government to fund a response to the rebellion was cause for great concern among the majority of the Constitutional Framers. Many historians consider that the timing of Shays’ Rebellion was crucial for ensuring that the government created by the Constitution would be both stronger and more centralized than that of the Articles of Confederation.

The Supremacy Clause of the Constitution states that the United States Constitution is the supreme and ultimate law of the country and that no other law may be made which supersedes it. This might seem irrelevant to us now, but it is important to note that when the Constitutional Framers were drawing up the Constitution, there was no guarantee it would be universally or permanently respected.

All of these answer choices were problems that the Federal government faced under the Articles of Confederation. The important thing to remember about the Articles of Confederation is that the Federal government had almost no power to do just about anything we contemporarily associate with a national government. It was almost completely beholden to the states, and it did not take long before the early political figures of America realized that such a system could not function in a large democratic society, like the United States.

The Articles of Confederation was the first system of government utilized by the United States. The people who created this system were most likely fearful of a strong central government do to oppression felt by man from the British government. This system did not have a strong executive authority which is reflected of attitudes in the nation at this time.

Home rule was, essentially, the British policy of purposeful neglect. In other words, in the ‘middle-years’ of colonial days (that is, a few years after Jamestown until around the end of the Seven Years War/French and Indian War), Britain let the colonies pretty much do as they pleased. The colonies, in reality, had it pretty good—on top of basically ruling themselves: they didn’t pay taxes, they had one of the largest economies in the world to sell crops and goods to, and they had the largest military in the world to protect them.

To put it succinctly, the colonies got used to “ruling” themselves, and Britain got used to enjoying the “good” of colonies without having to account for the “bad.” Britain, in other words, enjoyed the advantages of having colonies (a default trade partner, for example) without being forced to expend money to protect the colonies.

Remember:Even though home rule allowed for autonomy, the colonies were still dependent on Britain. Moreover, the Brits still appointed colonial “rulers” such as governors and judges.

This is a trick question. There isn’t really a difference between the 7 Years War/F&I War. Technically speaking, the French and Indian War is simply the North American theatre of the 7 Years War.

To explain slightly further, when scholars refer to war “theaters” it generally means a battle or conflict which is part of the overall war, but is in a different geological location. Take World War II, for example: the “European Theatre” clearly includes conflicts and battles within Europe; the “Pacific Asian Theatre” obviously includes conflicts and battles in Japan, for example. Both, however, are part of WWII.

Regardless, the War is responsible for the Brits beginning to do away with "home rule" and start exercising power over the colonies. The first power exercised, of course, was the power to tax. This infuriated the colonists ("no taxation without representation") and was one of the major sparks leading to the Revolution.

Hopefully you’ve guessed that free riding is a collective action problem. This is actually the easiest one to remember because nearly everyone has done a group project at one point in their lives. Remember that one kid who did absolutely NOTHING while you slaved away on that group project? He’s a free rider. He is benefitting from your hard work and diligence while contributing nothing to the overall endeavor. Even though he contributed 0%, he still gets 100% of whatever grade you earn.

Free riding was actually very prevalent in the early days of the USA, especially during the Articles of Confederation. States which contributed nothing (monetarily or otherwise) still benefitted from being in a union with the other states. The Constitution sought to address this, among other things.

NY is the correct answer. Essentially, NY fought ratification because the Anti-Federalist governor, George Clinton, stood to lose a massive amount of political influence and power if NY joined the union. Remember: under the AoC states were MUCH more powerful than the ‘central’ government, thus making governors close to modern-day presidents in their own right. Moreover, because NY was already a hub for commerce, it was functioning well (relative to the other states in the AoC, many of which were floundering).

For that reason, and several others, the founders knew that they needed NY to join, if the Constitution were to actually work. So Madison and the others focused their pen—and attention—on NY and began writing the Federalist Papers.

Factions were more politically prevalent during ratification than they are now, only because now we have well-recognized political parties that have more or less subsumed factions. At any rate, factions were essentially competing interests—this is often difficult to wrap your mind around, so the easiest way to envision it is this: would a northern merchant and a southern planter have the same interests? How about a merchant and an artisan? An artisan and an unskilled laborer? A planter and a plantation owner? All of these would belong to different “factions” in a sense, because they have different interests. The anti-federalists attempted to stir up fear by saying “well, what if ONE of those factions got control of the government! We’d be toast!” (Do you see why? What’s good for a planter is not necessarily good for a merchant, and vice versa).

The Constitution contains both positive and negative rights. Positive rights act positively to ensure economic and social entitlements. Negative rights on the other hand place constitutional limitations on government interference with an individual's right. These rights make sure that people can enjoy their political and civil liberties with minimal government interference.

The necessary and proper clause states that Congress has the power to make all laws necessary and proper for carrying out its enumerated powers. Any and all necessary and proper laws must be implemented in order to achieve constitutional results.

Throughout the course of the American Revolution, the colonists clung tightly to their dominant aim: the restoration of their rights and a return to their way of life before Great Britain’s abuses and the War. This goal was expressed most eloquently in the Declaration of Independence, in which the Founders gave voice to the colonists’ frustrations over the increasingly worsening pattern of disregard, violation, and presumption forced upon them by King George III and Parliament. In truth, many of the colonists had been reluctant to formally separate from England at first, believing instead that the King might be persuaded to acknowledge his government’s wrongdoings and restore them a respected position, with political and economic freedoms, within his Empire. But after the King and Parliament both summarily rejected this prospect and, indeed, continued to abuse the American colonies even further, the colonists knew that their treasured rights and laissez-faire lifestyle could only be won back through revolt. In this manner, the Revolution was actually rather conservative (as far as uprisings go), because the colonists did not desire radical or wide-sweeping changes.

Shays’ Rebellion, which broke out in 1786, was a collection of small armed uprisings by Massachusetts farmers, coordinated by ex-Revolutionary War Captain Daniel Shays. Shays and his fellow rebels were indebted farmers whose lands had been confiscated by creditors under Massachusetts’ inequitable debtor laws. Desperate to keep their lands, Shays and his men attacked several courthouses, preventing judges from finalizing foreclosure proceedings and generally inspiring other similarly disadvantaged farmers in other states to do the same. The government of Massachusetts was incapable of stopping the Rebellion, which was popular with many of the state’s citizens. In these dire straits, Massachusetts appealed to Congress for aid, but under the Articles, Congress was unable to call together a militia, let alone gather the necessary supplies and funds to sponsor such a force. Hampered by the Articles, Congress was forced to stand aside and watch the Rebellion proceed. Eventually, the Rebellion was halted by a militia put together by a private force funded by Massachusetts’ wealthy citizens, but the interval of chaos that had ensued, in which Shays and his rebels ran about unchecked, convinced many people across the new nation that the Articles of Confederation were seriously flawed and needed to be amended as soon as possible.